


Deeply Annoying Fever

by CeaselessCow2011



Series: The Magnus Archives: Barely Canon [6]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Sick Character, Sick Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:14:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27613981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeaselessCow2011/pseuds/CeaselessCow2011
Summary: Jon comes down with a fever and Martin gets to care for Jon... As a treat.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Series: The Magnus Archives: Barely Canon [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1986040
Comments: 5
Kudos: 76





	Deeply Annoying Fever

The ceiling has looked the exact same way for the past… six hours now? The clock read 04:27. _Great. Just fantastic. Work is in two hours and- wait, or is it in four hours? Why can’t I remember?_ A sleepless, tired, mentally exhausted Jon looked to his boyfriend, Martin, who was sleeping like a brick. Martin looked peaceful. And Jon felt so horrible. He felt hot. _Oh no. I’d better not be sick._ He decided it was time to get up. _Maybe taking a melatonin will help?_ He stood up, which lasted all of two quick seconds. The blood rushed to his head and made him fall back onto the bed. 

This awoke the sleeping Martin. “Jon?” He said immediately as he opened his eyes. He had been startled awake.

 _Oh no, I woke him up._ Jon felt the guilt rise and course through his body immediately. “I’m really sorry for waking you, Martin. Why don’t you go back to sleep?”

“Are you alright? I felt a pretty big thud…” Martin asked groggily. He was still half asleep.

Jon tried his best to smile reassuringly at him. “I’m alright. Don’t worry about me. I love you.” 

Martin smiled. “I love you too, Jon. You get back to sleep too, okay?” 

“Okay.” Jon nodded.

Martin went back to sleep rather quickly. _Oh thank god he didn’t stay awake._

Jon sat up, propping himself up with his hands holding himself up behind his back, pushing against the bed. He still felt extremely guilty about waking Martin. He didn’t want to disturb Martin’s sleep. Besides, Martin needs his sleep, and he obviously needs more rest than Jon… Right?

Jon slowly stood up and walked to the door. He quietly left the room and went to the medicine cabinet. _Now where is the melatonin…?_ He looked for a good few minutes, but to no avail. He couldn’t find a single pill bottle with a purple cap. He sighed. _Maybe I just need a glass of water._ Jon went to the kitchen and filled up a cup of cool water. He sat at the table and slowly sipped at his water. _Why do I feel like this? Am I sick? I better not be sick._ He still felt hot. It seemed like two seconds had passed since Jon’s cup was filled, but now it was empty. He groaned quietly. _This better not affect my work._ He got up from the table and went to the bathroom. He grabbed the thermometer and took his temperature. 

Upon seeing the number on the small device, his eyes widened. “Fuck,” he mumbled under his breath, “I hope no one notices…” He had a moderate fever. He decided to check the time on his phone. 05:42. _How did an hour pass already? How is this going to affect my work? What about Martin? I hope he doesn’t notice. I hope no one notices. I hope no one even knows I’m at work. It’ll make my job a lot easier if I just dealt with organizing files all day and didn’t talk to anyone today. Maybe I can shrug this off. Maybe I can just deal with it. It’ll go away sooner or later, after all. No one needs to know about-_

His thoughts got interrupted by the creaking of the floorboards. _Martin’s awake._ Jon’s eyes widened as he quickly put the thermometer back in the drawer. He walked out of the bathroom and got greeted by Martin. “There you are…” He sounded groggy. He hugged Jon, but pulled away quickly. “Are you alright, Jon? You’re burning up!” His voice, his face, his eyes, were all laced with nothing but pure concern.

 _Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no-_ “Um, I’m alright, I was just… warm. Nothing to be worried about.” Jon tried to look as ‘alright’ as possible.

Martin raised a brow rather quickly. “Uh huh. And I’m a cow. That’s it, we are going to get your temperature taken.” He started moving past Jon, going to the drawer.

Jon quickly tried to stop him. He turned to him and started going to him. “That won’t be necessary, Martin-” But it was too late, Martin had grabbed the thermometer.

“Open wide.” He said. Jon shook his head a little bit in defiance. “No, Martin, this is-” Before Jon could finish his sentence, Martin put the thermometer in Jon’s mouth, which surprised him. Before he could even try and take it out, it beeped, and Martin looked at it. “Thirty eight degrees! Jon! You have a fever! Oh goodness, we need to get you into bed, and i’ll make you some tea, and-”

“No… Martin, don’t. Please. I’m fine.” Jon pleaded. _Please don’t care like this._

“No, Jon, No, you’re not fine, and that’s very obvious. You need rest and I'm going to care for you! You need this, Jon.”

Jon opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. He looked into Martin’s eyes. _How does this man care so much? Why does he care? He can’t just sacrifice his own work for me like this. Martin needs to go to work. I need to go to work. He shouldn’t care for me like this. That’s rude and selfish. Maybe I should go in anyways, try and go without Martin. I-_

“Well?” Martin said, holding Jon’s hand gently. _God, he’s too gentle._

Jon blinked. “I’m sorry, I-”

“It’s alright,” _I didn’t even explain myself, how is it alright?_ “I was just asking if you’d had anything to drink or eat yet this morning?”

“I drank some water…”

Martin smiled softly, in that encapsulating way that he did whenever he looked at Jon. _Why is he smiling?_ “Good. Let’s get to the bedroom.” Martin started, keeping hold of Jon’s hand as he started going.

“Wait, Martin-” Jon said desperately. He pulled on Martin slightly.

“Yes, Jon?” Martin immediately turned back to him, the worried expression on his face coming back. 

_Oh no. He’s worried. I’m worrying him. Shit. No. This is selfish. I’m being annoying._ He stood a moment, frozen. What should he do? If he went with Martin, he knew he’d be forced to lie in bed all day being taken care of, but he didn’t want to tell Martin no. 

The confliction in Jon’s face must have been noticeable to Martin, because after a minute, Martin nodded. “Right. Let’s sit on the couch then. Is that alright with you?”

Jon nodded. He _would_ like that. He led the two to the couch and sat down. Martin sat next to him, hugging him close. _Why is he being this gentle? Why is he hugging me? He’s going to get sick and it’s all my fault. He woke up because of me, now he’s being kept awake because of me, and it’s all my fault, I shouldn’t have gotten sick, I'm being selfish and am now burdening Martin._ He couldn’t help the streams of thought flowing around him like an everflowing sea of guilt. His eyes welled with tears as the thoughts kept flowing around him. 

Martin hadn’t noticed this. “I’m going to make us both some breakfast.” He kissed the archivist’s forehead. “I love you.” He went off to the kitchen to start cooking.

Jon hugged his knees and stared down in silence. He hated himself for being sick. He hated himself for worrying Martin. He hated himself for being such a burden. After all, it’s now… Jon looks at his phone, and the time read 06:18. “Martin?” He called out.

Martin rushed out. “Hm? Do you need anything? Water? Medication?” Jon couldn’t help but smile weakly at Martin’s reaction. 

“I just wanted to remind you that work is going to start soon.” Jon stammered out.

Martin laughed. “Work? Jon, you seriously think either of us are going anywhere near the Institute today? That’s utterly ridiculous!”

“Oh…” The word sounded very distant, cold and hollow as it left Jon’s mouth, which made Martin’s expression soften. He went closer to Jon. “Hey… Why don’t you come to the kitchen with me? We can chat while I cook.” He suggested. Jon _couldn’t_ say no to the warm tone in Martin’s voice. Jon nodded, and Martin helped him to the kitchen table. “There we are.” 

Martin poured warm water over a tea bag in a mug that had a black cat on it with green eyes, with the word 'Purrfect' written on it. He stirred in a spoonful of honey and a spoonful of sugar just how Jon liked it, and gave it to him. “Here. Now, what did you think you were going to do today at work?” His voice was so soft. Jon took a moment to process the words Martin spoke. 

“Well…” Jon began, sipping his tea. “I thought I would maybe… Spend the day organizing files, not talking to anyone…” He couldn’t bring himself to be dishonest to Martin. “I figured I could work on what I wanted to and not have to deal with anyone.”

“So, is it safe to assume you knew you were sick before I woke up?”

Jon sighed in defeat. “Yes, but only for a couple of minutes. I was going to shrug it off. These things never last too long anyhow.”

Martin continued cooking as he talked. “Ah. Well, I am going to call in sick for the both of us. You need rest and I’m going to take care of you. Alright?”

Jon shook his head. “Please don’t…” He stuttered.

“Why not?”

“It’s my sickness to deal with, and I don’t want to burden you. I’m being selfish. I’m taking away from your work. I’m being stupid.” Jon stammered out slowly, coughing occasionally while speaking.

Martin put the food on plates and set them on the table before sitting across from Jon. “Oh, Jon… You’re not being a burden to me. I want to take care of you, you know. This isn’t something I feel obligated to do.”

Instead of answering, Jon sighed and started eating. He barely had the appetite, but figured he’d try and at least act better until Martin called in. He thought he might’ve still had a chance to come into work if he did this. He focused on eating as much as he could.

Martin raised a brow, noticing. “Don’t need to push yourself. Just saying.” He said in passing, as casually as he could. Jon made a slight mumbling sound and kept eating.

After both of them had finished, Jon got up. Martin watched him from the kitchen sink as he put the dishes away. Jon walked to the room. Martin thought maybe, just maybe, Jon was going to rest. That was his first mistake. 

Jon went into the room and pulled out his drawers. He slowly started changing before Martin came in. He looked at Jon, who looked at him with a look of fierce nervousness. Martin smiled softly, raising his brow. “Well well well, where’s my sweet archivist going?” He asked lightheartedly, which visibly melted away some of the nervousness of Jon. 

“Uhhh… Work…” 

Martin sat next to his Jon and held his hand. “I want you to tell me honestly, without any anxiety, how this sounds. Can you do that?”

Jon nodded. Of course he could.

“I want to take care of you today. We can both take the day off today, I can help you take a nice hot bath, I can make you tea and nice food, and we can snuggle and I can read to you and we can watch documentaries. How does that sound?”

Immediately, Jon nodded. “That sounds perfect-” He said quickly, desperate to not let his anxiety hit him.

Martin smiled and grabbed Jon’s pants, and put them into the drawer. “Okay. Why don’t you have a lay down, then.” He took his phone out while Jon lay back in bed. Martin called in sick for the two and went into bed with Jon. “There we are. Now it’s just you and me.”

Jon loved the sound of that. Just him and Martin, snuggling in bed, in their own flat. It made his heart skip beats. He snuggled into Martin. Life was good. Everything was fine…

But then Jon started coughing. Martin grabbed the cup of water on his nightstand and gave it to Jon, propping the small man up against his warm chest. Jon drank the water and calmed himself. “Thank you…” Jon said, his voice rough. Martin nodded and set the water back onto the nightstand. “Is there anything else you’d like right now?”

“You…”

“Of course. I’m here. Always and forever.” Martin held Jon close in his arms, keeping him propped up. He kissed his head and pet his hair gently. 

Jon could feel himself melting into Martin, but quite honestly, he didn’t care. He loved the feeling of warmth that Martin was always radiating. 

Martin put on a documentary about cows, which made Jon very enticed. Martin noticed the way Jon’s attention had been grabbed by the fluffy highland cows on the screen. “Do you like cows, Sweetie?” Jon looked up at Martin with the happiest, brightest expression he ever had. His eyes seemed to glimmer and his smile was big, and his face was lit up the same way it always did when Jon was passionate about something. “Yes! I love cows! They’re the best!” He said quickly before going back to the documentary. Martin chuckled softly, watching Jon’s entertained face. Martin had so much love in his heart for Jon. He went back to petting Jon’s hair as the two watched on. 

Jon managed to sit through the entire hour long documentary, something he usually couldn’t do. Martin was kind of surprised by this. He didn’t know whether this was due to the fact that Jon was sick, or was deeply enamored by all the cows. Either way, Martin was happy that Jon was happy.

Jon looked up at Martin. “Could you get some water, please?” 

Martin nodded and handed Jon the glass. “Here you are.”

Jon drank the rest of the water and Martin put it back. 

“Alright. Would you like some lunch or a bath?”

“Bath…” Jon mumbled.

“Great. Let me get that started while you rest for a moment, then.” Martin gently set Jon down and went to the drawers, where he pulled out a nice set of comfy pajamas for Jon, which included a pair of pajama pants, one of Martin’s tshirts, a green fluffy robe, and green slippers. He took these to the bathroom, got a few towels, and started the bath. While the bath was going, Martin made Jon a cup of tea, a nice chamomile tea with a spoonful of honey in it. Once the tea was done, He went to the bathroom and set the mug on the counter. He waited for the bath to fill with warm water, and turned the water off before going to Jon. Upon entering the room, Jon looked to him.

“Hi…” He said, sniffling a little bit. Martin smiled and went to him. “Hi… Shall we go get your bath situated?” Jon nodded and reached for Martin to pick him up, as he didn’t have the strength at the moment. Martin happily picked him up and brought him to the bathroom. Martin helped Jon undress, which wasn’t too difficult, and Jon went into the bathtub. Martin sat right by the edge of the tub, still smiling softly. Jon gazed into Martin’s eyes for several moments, smiling brightly in his dazed state. 

It was clear to see that Martin loved taking care of his Jon. Martin grabbed some soap and started massaging the soap into Jon’s skin. Jon’s skin was slightly rough, but not as much as it used to be. Jon was starting to get smoother, clearer skin and was starting to develop healthier habits ever since he started dating Martin. Jon sat there, allowing himself to be cared for. 

Martin knew just how lucky he was to be able to do this for Jon. Jon didn’t allow himself to be loved and cared for like this so easily, and Martin was grateful to be someone Jon could fully trust. He gently washed Jon’s body and hair, scrubbing his scalp and making sure Jon was fully clean. This was a very intimate moment they were sharing, and neither of them were going to take it for granted. Soon enough, Martin finished washing Jon.

“Are you ready to come out?” Martin asked, cupping his hand on Jon’s cheek. 

Jon smiled, fully relaxed. “Mhm.” He stood up and Martin helped him out of the bathtub. He wrapped Jon in a towel and gave him the tea. Jon drank his tea as Martin emptied the tub. Jon was slightly surprised at first, thinking it to be his normal, but he settled for this. He was content. All was alright with the world in that moment. He was going to savour every last drop.

Once Jon was done with his tea, and the tub was empty, Martin set the tea mug on the counter for Jon and began to dry him off. He then dressed Jon in his pajamas. Martin then picked Jon up and set him on the bed. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to make us some chicken noodle soup. Sound good?”

Jon nodded and curled up in bed, half laying down, propped up against the pillows. Martin turned on a documentary about trains before heading off to the kitchen. 

Martin filled a pot with water and simultaneously refilled the kettle. He put them both to boil and went back to the bathroom. He set the dirty clothes and wet towel into the laundry basket and brought the mug to the kitchen. He refilled the mug with hot water and put the teabag in. He stirred in another spoonful of honey before going to the bedroom. He set the tea on the nightstand next to Jon. “Here’s some tea for you.” He looked to Jon, who looked to him with a groggy smile. “Thank you Martin, you’re the best.” 

“Of course. I’d do anything for you.” Martin kissed Jon’s forehead gently, both to show affection and to see how hot Jon was. He felt slightly cooler than this morning, which was a success in Martin’s book. Martin went back to the kitchen and continued making the soup. He chopped up carrots, potatoes, onions, leeks, and some chicken. He plopped all of this into the soup, as well as some egg noodles. He added in some chicken broth and stirred it all together. He continued cooking everything until it was done. He brought out two bowls and two spoons and started to pour the soup into the bowls. He then went to the bedroom carrying the two warm bowls.

“Hey Sweetie.” Martin said, coming in.

Jon was half asleep. “Hey…” He saw the soup. Martin handed him a bowl and sat down. “How was the documentary?”

“Boring…” Jon said with a yawn. 

Martin let out a chuckle. “Well, I’m back. Let’s have some soup and then afterwards we can head to sleep, how does that sound?”

Jon nodded. “Mhm.” He started eating his soup.

The two ate their soup in silence, quietly enjoying each other's company. They didn’t need words to be happy near each other. Sometimes the silence was all they needed, and they were both very content with this fact. It was a sort of unspoken thing that neither of them ever really mentioned, but they didn’t need to. They were just in sync like that. Peaceful moments were never awkward between them, they were purely just that- peaceful moments. Together.

Once the two finished, Martin took the bowls and took them to the sink. He grabbed Jon’s mug and also put that in the sink. He grabbed two glasses and filled them both with water. He came back to the bedroom and set a glass on both of their nightstands. Jon smiled up at Martin, already nearly dozing off. 

Martin turned off the room lights and Jon’s nightstand before coming into bed with Jon. Jon lay up against Martin, who wrapped his arm around him and kissed his head. Martin pulled the covers over the two and closed his eyes. “Goodnight, Jon.”

“Goodnight Martin, I love you…” Jon yawned out, snuggling as close as he possibly could to Martin.

“I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> 38 degrees Celsius is the equivalent to 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit!


End file.
